Tokyo’s governor Shintaro Ishihara has indicated that his next target is the Internet.

Explaining his manga ban, he maintains that visual arts (but strangely not photographic ones) are far more dangerous to children than the printed word, convenient in light of his chosen profession of ero-novelist:

“When it is not the printed word but visual, it’s easier for children to understand and more harmful. Japan is the only place that sort of thing is commonly sold.

With that sort of material is available on the Internet as well, I think we’ll have to do something about it! This is a national issue.”

In recent statements, he has said he intends to use his position as Tokyo governor to “lead Japan from Tokyo” – i.e. make laws in Tokyo which the rest of the country has no real choice but to go along with, just as has already happened with his manga ban, so there seems to be a very real danger he will attempt to enact a further ban on 2D material on the Internet.

Such a de facto national ban would be quite possible if he were to target laws against companies based in Tokyo or making material available to Tokyo residents.

Ishihara is also apparently either unaware of or dissatisfied with Japan’s current state-mandated “filtering” system for censoring the Internet access of children.

In other news, Ishihara has announced he intends to seek a fourth term as the governor of Tokyo in the upcoming gubernatorial election…
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